Kathmandu, October 21

Police have arrested five persons with counterfeit Nepali currency notes worth Rs 370,000 from Machchhegaun of Kirtipur.

The alleged racketeers of the fake currency notes nabbed by police yesterday are Indra Bahadur Shrestha, 27, and Raj Shrestha, 28, of Parsa; Narayan Shrestha, 25, of Gorkha; Sahil Thapa Managar, 25, of Makwanpur; and Bikash Dokche, 29, of Kageshwori Municipality, Kathmandu.

Police raided rented rooms of Narayan and Indra Bahadur in Machchhegaun and arrested them with the Nepali fake banknotes and equipment, ink and papers used for producing counterfeit banknotes.

Fake cheque books of various banks were also been seized from their possession. All the banknotes are in denomination of Rs 1,000. Senior Superintendent of Police Basant Lama, in-charge at Metropolitan Police Range, said primary investigation showed that they had printed fake currency notes worth around Rs 500,000 so far.

Police first arrested Sahil and Bikash with fake notes with face value of Rs 9,000 they paid to Chabahil-based Chandani Restaurant and Bar on Friday. Police then raided their rented rooms in Machchhegaun. According to MPR, meticulous observation is required to know that the notes are not genuine and thus many people might have been defrauded by the gang. Genuine note is felt rough when you run your fingers through it, but fake notes lack this feature.

Generally, fake Nepali currency lack raised watermark, words and metallic thread — the permanent features of a genuine banknote. MPR has also appealed to all to be cautious while carrying out cash transactions.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati said they used to circulate fake notes by also tucking them between genuine ones during late hours of the day. Kathmandu District Court has remanded those arrested to five-day judicial custody for further investigation. In February, Nepal Rastra Bank had warned that the circulation of high denomination counterfeit notes could adversely affect the country’s economic security.

Earlier in May, police had arrested six persons with counterfeit Nepali currency notes with face value of Rs 26.06 million from different places of Kathmandu and Lalitpur. The racketeers circulated the fake banknotes through drug traders and various persons in their contact.